Sturt’s desert pea is a spectacular plant that covers wide areas of the arid parts of Australia. It is a perennial, a plant that lives for more than two growing seasons. This creeping plant grows rapidly and has soft, gray-green, divided leaves and a large head of flamboyant, deep-red pea flowers with a dark throat. Each flower is 3 to 4 inches (7.5 to 10 centimeters) long, with one large petal at the back, two small ones at the sides, and two elongated ones joined together in the center. The bloom is followed by hard, brown, narrow pods, each containing many hard seeds. The Australian state of South Australia uses Sturt’s desert pea as its floral emblem.
